FirstEnergy's Potomac Edison and Mon Power subsidiaries finally got around to filing their testimony in the rate increase case last week. As instructed by the WV PSC, the company has added the additional cost of rectifying its own failure to the increase it is seeking.Monthly meter reading will increase customer rates an additional $7.5 million annually, or 1.35% for residential customers(1.57% for non-residential). This increase will be added to the already proposed 13.95% base rate increase, and additional estimated increase for coal plant retrofits of another 2%. Total rate increase proposed by FirstEnergy for its West Virginia residential customers? 17.2%According to Testimony of Raymond E. Valdes filed last week, FirstEnergy's 2013 cost of meter reading was just over $5M per year. Dividing that number by the number of actual meter reads performed resulted in an average cost of $1.99 per meter read. But FirstEnergy can't simply double the costs because its number of meter reads compared to estimates is not equal, even when the annual read customers are removed from the equation. When numbers are actually put on paper, it turns out that FirstEnergy was not actually reading meters every other month, or half the time, as required. FirstEnergy was reading meters much less than the required every other month. Maybe the WV PSC should have asked for these numbers during the general investigation and simplified everything?Actual Meter Readings in 2013: 2,238,832Estimated Readings in 2013: 2,894,376If the company had been reading meters every other month as it was supposed to, then these two numbers would be equal. This is the plainest picture you're going to get of FirstEnergy's failure.So, anyhow, Valdes used the $1.99 reading cost to calculate a total incremental cost to switch to monthly meter reading of $6.4M.But, wait, the company needs to add an additional $1,074,173 in "transition costs" to rectify its own meter reading mistake. FirstEnergy describes these costs as: "estimated additional costs the Companies will incur related to the conversion to monthly meter reading." The company proposed to recover this extra million over a 3-year period, so that it can earn interest on it (at your expense, of course).This brings your additional cost to read meters monthly up to:$7,519,213And that is a clearest picture you will get of how your Public Service Commission has failed to protect your interests during its perfunctory "investigation" of FirstEnergy's customer abuse.The PSC clearly found FirstEnergy to be at fault in the investigation. But, instead of punishing the company for its failure, the PSC has punished the customers who were injured by the failure. As my friend Kery says... when is the failure to perform under a contract ever the fault of the party who was injured? FirstEnergy failed to perform. They should be liable to the parties injured by their action. End of story.Except, this is West Virginia, where our PSC behaves like a poodle on a leash held by Ohio energy conglomerates. Look up "regulatory capture."The PSC could have made some token attempt at fairness in its general investigation order. It could have ordered FirstEnergy to absorb the first year's incremental additional cost ($7.5M). It could have ordered FirstEnergy to absorb the $1M transition costs, instead of putting them on the backs of struggling ratepayers for three years.But it didn't. FirstEnergy was rewarded for its failure. Rewarded for injuring YOU, the customer.So, what can you do? Tell the PSC what you think! You can submit an online comment here. Select "high profile" case number 14-0702-E-42T from the drop down list on the comment form.As we move forward with this rate increase case, there will also be opportunities to voice your concerns in person during various public comment hearings around the state. Stay tuned...

"Public Service Commision". That seems like a pro-consumer government oversight body but instead, the WV PSC is held entirely captive by the very utilities it is supposed to oversee. I used to think it was 'Stockholm Syndrome' where the captives identifies and sympathized with those who were holding them. However, I now believe that they are corporate toadies waiting to go back to the jobs they previously held. In the chairman's case, that means going back to being a Charleston lawyer and lobbyist for the very people he is supposed to be regulating. Such is that state of modern corporate-owned government. For that, the people of West Virginia will pay dearly for years.

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Nance

6/13/2014 04:00:51 am

the truth of the matter - WV PSC is a paid coward - humpf

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Don

6/13/2014 05:29:34 am

Nance: Worse than cowards, the members of the WVPSC are actively blocking any enforcement action that would cost the utilities money. Their goal is make sure that the utility companies in West Virginia continue to deliver the poorest service at maximum possible cost to WV ratepayers. It is a truly shameful position for them to take.

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About the Author

Keryn Newman blogs here at StopPATH WV about energy issues, transmission policy, misguided regulation, our greedy energy companies and their corporate spin.In 2008, AEP & Allegheny Energy's PATH joint venture used their transmission line routing etch-a-sketch to draw a 765kV line across the street from her house. Oooops! And the rest is history.

AboutStopPATH Blog

StopPATH Blog began as a forum for information and opinion about the PATH transmission project. The PATH project was abandoned in 2012, however, this blog was not.

StopPATH Blog continues to bring you energy policy news and opinion from a consumer's point of view. If it's sometimes snarky and oftentimes irreverent, just remember that the truth isn't pretty. People come here because they want the truth, instead of the usual dreadful lies this industry continues to tell itself. If you keep reading, I'll keep writing.